Improved machine for separating flour from bran



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "HUNTLEY & BABOOOK.

.Mill Bolt.

No/lOl jfiiiivrmm N4 PETERS. \PHOTO-LIIHDGRAPH ER, WASHINGTON, D C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.,

HUNTLEY & BABCOOK. Mill Bolti No. 101,736. Patented 'Apri LlZ, 1870.

N. PETERS, PHOTO-UTNOGRAPHER. WASH\NGTON. D. C,

waited fittin fitted dt iiiine;

W'ILLIAM W. HUNILEY AND ALPHEUS BABOOOK, 0F SILVER CREEK, NE\V YORK,

ASSIGNORS TO \V. \V. HUNTLEY AND FRANK SWIFT, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 101,736, dated Apr-ii 12, 1870; (outed/uteri February 22, 1870.

IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEPARATING FLOUR PROM BRAN.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same We, WILLIAM'W. HUNTLEY and ALPHnUs BAB- COCK, of Silver Creek, in the county of Chautauqua. and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in the Machine for Separating Flour from Bran, of which the following is a specification.

Our improvements relate more particularly to that class of machines, denominated bran-clusters or dressing-machines, that is einployed'after the usual bolting process has been exhausted, to separate from the bran the flour which still adheres thereto. They are shown in the accompanying drawings incorporated it a machine which is partially composed of the following old parts, viz: acylin'drical sieve or bolt of wire-cloth surrounded by a tight case, arranged vertically, or nearly so, and having arranged within a series of brushes, fans, or heaters, attached to a central rotating shaft, on which is mounted, near the top of the machine, a deflecting head or disk, on which the material is fed and impelled by centrifugal action outward against the inner surface of the sieve or bolt, where, as it descends, itis subjected to the beating and scouring action of the brushes, the centrifugal action of which forces the flour, as it is detached from the bran, through the meshes ,of the wire-cloth, the bran descending within the bolt, and the flour down the annular space between the bolting-cylinder and-outer case.

The nature of our invention consists- First, ofa series of rods conically arranged around the brush-shaft, and passing loosely and obliquely through radial arms of the brush-stocks, so that the vertical adjustment of the rods will radially adjust the brushes, the said rods being supported by two disks of unequal size, which they connect and adjust by a screwsleeve'fitted on the upper end of an upwardly-extendmg sleeve from the smaller disk.

Second, in the arrangement of a spiral spring between the lower of said last-mentioned disks and a collar rigidly secured to the shaft above, so that, by pressing downward against said lower disk, it will counterbalance the tendency which the centrifugal action of the brushes, operating through the inclined rods, exerts to force upward the sleeve of the upper disk, thereby preventing a'considerable amount of friction that would otherwise be generated.

Third, in constructing the cover or top plate. of the machine with a groove running around its edge, to permit the hooked heads of the tie-rods which connect the top and bottom of the machine "to engage at any point therein, so that, by. slightly loosening the nuts at their lower ends, the cover can be turned, thereby enabling the relative position of the feed-hopper and discharging-spo'uts to be arranged in such a manner as to most convenientl y connect with and adapt themselves to the conveying and elevating-spouts, and other-features of the particular mill in which the machine is to be employed.

Fourth, in horizontally dividing the outer casing above the discharge-spouts, so as to permit the upper and main portion to be removed without disturbing the connections with the discharge-spouts.

In the accompanying drawings,

machine.

Figure II is a horizontal section in line 10 w.

Figure III is a similar section in line at 0a.

Figure IV is an enlarged vertical section of upper portion of the machine, showing the manner of adjusting the brushes.

Figure Vis a detached horizontal section in line y y of the shaft and brushes, also enlarged.

Figure VI is a horizontal section of the shaft and adjusting-collar in line 2 z. I

Like letters of reference designate like parts in each of the figures.

A A represent the outer casing;

B, the top or cover; and

(l, the annular bottom. I

1) is the wire-cloth cylinder;

I), the bottom there-of;

E, the brush shaft; and

F, the brushes attached thereto.

G is the feed-spout;

H, the deflecting-disk;

I, the flour-discharging disk;

J, the flour; and

K, the bran-discharging spouts.

The machine is supported on suitable legs, L, so as to leave space below for the driving-pulley M and a bridge-tree, N, which supports the brush-shaft in a suitable step, a.

The casing is made tight, and is horizontally divided into two sections, as indicated at a, Fig. I, the upper portion, A, being formed in segments, a cf, Fig. II, so as to be easily removable without disturbing the lower portion, A, with which the flour and bran-spouts connect.

This feature is a matter of great convenience, as it enables access to be had to the bolting-cylinder with out detaching the connections with the flour and branspouts.

0 represents the tie-rods, formed with hooked heads 0 and 0 the groove in the edge of the cover, in which the hookso engage, as shown in Fig. II, the rods being provided at their-lower ends with nuts 0 by which the parts are clamped together in the usual manner.

It is evident that the groove 0 in the cover enables the rods'to be connected therewith at any point.

In arranging our improved machine in a mill, the body is arranged so as to enable the connections to be most conveniently made with the flour and bran discliarging-spouts. The nuts 0 are then slightly loosened, which permits the cover to be arranged to make the easiest connection with the feedspout without removing the tie-rods, the books at their upper ends sliding in the groove in the cover as the lat,- ter is being adjusted. 1

The bolting-cylinder D is constructed in any usual and suitable manner. As shown in the drawings it consists of a top and bottom riug, d, with vertical.

ribs d connecting the two, to the inner side of which the wirecloth d is attached.

An iron ring, (1, also surrounds the cylinder, as shown in Fig. I, for a purpose hereafter to be explained.

The bottom D, on the outer edge of which the cylinder rests, is supported on cross-pieces, d, that fit in rests formed in the upper edge of the lower portion A of the casing, as shown in Fig. II.

A collar, d", closely fitting the shaft E, is screwed to the under side of this bottom, to prevent the passage of the bran around the shaft.

.The spout K conducts the bran from the bottom D outside of the machine.

P P represent two sets of radial arms extending from collars rigidly secured to the brush-shaft.

The ends of these arms are forked, to receive the brush-stocks f, which are secured in the lower set by means of a bolt passing through the stock and slots in the forks of the arms, and fastened by a nut which permits the outward adjustment of the brushes as they become worn.

The brush-stocks are not fastened in the forks of the upper set P, which serve merely as'guides to secure the'stoeks against lateral movement, as shown in Figs. I and II.

A third set of arms is represented by p p, which are rigidly fastened at their outer ends to the brushstocks, while their inner ends loosely fit in a groove in the periphery of a collar, 1), keyed to the shaft E so as to be radially adjustable.

1i and p are two disks of unequal size, fitting loosely on the shaft E, the smallerone above and the larger one below the collar 1).

These disks are connected near their edges by bolts 19*, which pass loosely through holes in the arms 1) and disk 1), and assume, by reason of the unequal sizes of the disks, a conical arrangement around the shaft and an inclined position with reference to the brush-stocks, so that the raising or lowering of the disks will cause the rods, by reason of this inclination, to force out or in the adjusting-arms p.

This vertical adjustment we accomplish in the following manner:

The smaller disk 1) is furnished with a sleeve, 1f,

which surrounds and extends to the top, or a little above the top of the shaft, and has fitted thereo'na sleeve-bearing, p which is retained between a shoulder, 11 on the sleeve 19' at its lower end, and a collar or cap, 1)", fastened by set-screw on the upper end of the sleeve 11 and resting on the top of the sleevebearing 1).

This sleeve-bearing is provided with an external thread, so as to screwand adjust in an internallythreaded thimble, 1), rigidly secured in the top-plate of 'the machine.

By turning the screw-sleeve 1) it is evident that the disk p and inclined rods will be moved up and down accordingly, and the brushes adjusted as may be required.

The parts being put together as described, and the brush-shaft set in motion, the centrifugal action of the brushes, operating through the connections of the arms 12 and inclined rods, will be sufficient to cause the shoulder p of the sleeve p "to press upward against the lower end of the sleeve-bearing f with considerable force, thereby generating a corresponding amount of friction at that point.

To counterbalance this lifting-action, we arrange a spiral spring, (1, around the shaft between collar and lower disk 1), so as to cause it to press downward on the disk 1) with a force equal to that operating to raise it.

If desired, a similar set of adj ustiug-arms, rods, and disks may be employed to adjust the lower ends of the brushes, the two devices being connected by rods, so as to cause both to adjust together.

The flour-discharging disk I .may be constructed as shown, with a cast disk 4) and hub. 4 to which the wooden portion is secured, a set -screw, i passing through the hub and fastening the disks to the shaft.

'i are radial wings attached to the under side of the disk, which gradually diminish in thickness till they terminate, which they (preferably) do before reaching the eye in the bottom of the casing.

1 The upper surface of the annular bottom 0 is beveled off so as to conform with the taper of the wings, which are arranged to just clear the surface thereof as they revolve. These wings sweep around thebottom of the case as the disk revolves, and prevent the flour from collecting between the disk and bottom and impeding the action of the machine.

H is the deflectingdisk, keyed to the shaft-above the bolting-cylinder, on which the material from the spout G is fed and discharged, by centrifugal action, at its periphery, against the wire-cloth at the top of the cylinder.

To prevent the flour from adhering and collecting on the wire-cloth of the cylinder, we employ a spring hammer, It, intermittently actuated by a crank-pin, r, of a bevel-wheel, r, which gearing with a similar bevel-wheel, s, on the end of a shaft, s, is operated by a belt, 5, that connects the brush-shaft with a wheel, s, on its opposite end.

A concussion-bolt, t, loosely fits in a bearing-hole formed in the outer case, and is arranged with its inner end in contact with the ring of of the bolt-ingcylinder, while the hammer R intermittently strikes the outer end, which slightly projects beyond the easing on the outside, jarring the cylinder and detaching the flour that would-otherwise adhere thereto.

WVhat we claim as our invention is- 1. -The combination of the arms n), conically-arranged bolts 12*, sleeve 11 and sleeve-bearing p screwing into the fixed threaded thimble p when arranged to I adjust the brush-stocks, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The arrangement of a spiral spring, q, disk p, and collar p to counterbalance the lifting-action of the brushes, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the groove 0 in the edge of the cover with the hooked headed tie-rods O, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

4. A horizontally-divided outer case, A A, in combination with a removable head B and binding-bolts Q, by which the three parts are held together so that the upper portion A and head B may be removed from the lower portion of the machine, as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

WM. W. HUN TLEY. ALPHEUS BABGOOK.

Witnesses:

EDWARD Wrnnnrnu, JNO. J. Boxxnn. 

